As Nathaniel Hawthorne famously wrote “families are always rising and falling in America.” It’s the same with B1G programs. The Golden Age of Michigan State football, and thus of MSU athletics, is over for now. Not saying it’s over for good, but it is for now and I really don’t think the Spartans have hit rock bottom yet.
I think there’s still plenty more plunging and “SPARTY NOOOOOOOO” moments to come. I think we’ll see a few in Spartan Stadium on Saturday too.
Thanks for the memories “who nationally has it better than us” memes with pictures of Michigan State football Coach Mark Dantonio and Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo. On the weekend that Michigan State basketball began practicing, we learned that the 2016 Michigan State football season was a lost cause.
TV/Radio: Saturday, October 15
2:30 p.m. — Northwestern at Michigan State, Spartan Stadium (BTN, WGN Radio AM-720)
SPREAD: Michigan State football -5
Northwestern Football Preview: If you’re engaged in college football and you live in the Chicagoland area you must credit Northwestern for this- they’re the only local team to actually beat a real opponent this season. Yes, it’s mid-October and we’re still astonishingly able to say that. Notre Dame has only beaten Syracuse and a really really bad Group of Five team.
Illinois has only beaten a really bad FCS team. NIU has beaten…well they don’t even play a power five team. Credit the Cats; they took out a decent Iowa Hawkeyes team on the road. It’s 12-2 Iowa of last year, but they’re solid.
In that contest we saw actual CHUNK PLAYS! OMG! Real EXPLOSION PLAYS!!!
Where has that been all season long? It’s like NU woke up and really joined the 2016 season at Kinnick Stadium. Great for them, maybe they can keep that going and turn the season around enough to reach a bowl game.
With both teams at 2-3 heading into Saturday, you can call this one a postseason elimination game. The winner moves to 3-3 and stays on track to reach 6-6 and thus eligible for one of the B1G’s 3,456 bowl slots. The loser falls into a very very deep 2-4 hole.
The “bread and butter” Justin Jackson said this Monday about breaking off the big runs: “Our mindset is keep pounding, keep pounding, and it’ll break.”
On the other side of the ball, Edge rusher Ifeadi Odenigbo finally lived up to his recruiting rankings hype in the trip to Iowa City. He broke out with a major league sack party. Better late than never for the senior.
MSU is very vulnerable at offensive tackle so this could be a good matchup for him. Also, Northwestern had an extra week to prepare which might be very advantageous.
Michigan State Football:
Michigan State football has lost three straight games for the first time since 2009, Dantonio’s third season in East Lansing. This awful development prompted the reeling Spartans coach to say:
“The ride up the mountain is very difficult at times, but the ride down can be very quick.”
It’s a more poetic version of the cliche “it’s harder to stay on top than it is to get there.”
The Spartans are on their way to their worst season since 2012; coincidentally also the last time Michigan State football was breaking in a new quarterback.
However, this time the problem isn’t just new QB1 Tyler O’Connor, like in ’12 when the problem was mostly Andrew Maxwell, or more perhaps more importantly the decision Dantonio made to go with Maxwell instead of Connor Cook.
Dantonio won’t say whether Damion Terry or Tyler O’Connor, who got benched in an ugly blowout home loss to BYU, will get the nod this week. He’s being coy, as all clever coaches are, but neither option is effective for State. Both are very unlikely to get it done.
There’s so much wrong with this Michigan State football team though, beyond just the quarterbacking. Biggest issue is a lack of discipline. So many dumb penalties and self-inflicted wounds. Also, pass blocking, run blocking, special teams, passing offense, pass defense and a failure to close to deal and put opponents away reside at the top of the “must fix” list.
Prediction: Northwestern 27, Michigan State football 21
Northwestern seems to play better, or at least get most of the biggest wins, on the road. I have no idea why that is, but it could be related to the fact that they really don’t have much of a crowd support advantage going for them when they play at home. Typically you see as much (insert B1G opponent’s primary color here) as you do purple at home games.
Being in the suburbs of Chicago is a double edged sword for Northwestern. Every other conference school has their biggest alumni base in the capital of the Midwest, so they all come out to Evanston.
While it might hurt the Cats at home, perhaps it helps them on the road.
Said Odenigbo about going on the road: “There’s nothing like hearing 60, 70,000 screaming fans that want your head off. When you make a big play and the crowd goes silent, that’s the best feeling.”
They’re better prepared for life now on the road, and they’ll take advantage of a State team in total free fall.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.